10335. 'And I, behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, belonging to the tribe of Dan' means those in whom the good and truth of faith are present, among whom the Church is to be established. This is clear from the representation of 'Aholiab' as those in whom the good and truth of faith are present. The reason why these are represented by Aholiab is that he was from the tribe of Dan, and that tribe means those in whom the good and truth of faith are present, see 3923, 6396. And the reason why these two - Bezalel from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan - were chosen to carry out the work, by which Divine celestial and spiritual realities would be represented, was that by Bezalel all those in whom the good of love is present should be understood, and by Aholiab all those in whom the good and truth of faith are present. Thus those who are in the inmost parts of heaven and the Church should be understood by Bezalel, and those who are in the last and lowest parts of them by Aholiab. And when they who are inmost and those who are last and lowest are referred to by name, all who are within the whole of heaven and within the whole of the Church should be understood. For this matter, see above in 10329; and when reference is made to what is first and what is last all things should be understood, 10044.

[2] The tribe of Judah was also in reality the first of the tribes, and the tribe of Dan the last of them. The fact that the tribe of Judah was in reality the first of the tribes is clear from father Israel's blessing of his sons in Genesis 49, where Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, who were the firstborn, are cursed, and Judah is blessed. See regarding Reuben there, verses 3, 4; regarding Simeon and Levi, verses 5-7; and regarding Judah, verses 8-12. And the fact that Dan was the last of the tribes, see 1710, 3923, 6396. The inmost heaven furthermore is inhabited by those in whom the good of love to the Lord exists, and the lowest by those in whom the truth of faith springing from good is present. The expression 'in whom the truth of faith springing from good is present' is used because the truth of faith is not the truth of faith present in a person unless it springs from good; for truth is born from good. Therefore unless good resides within truth there is no soul and so no life within it. Those in whom the truths of faith springing from good are present inhabit the lowest parts of heaven, but not those in whom the truths of faith are devoid of good; the latter do not inhabit heaven. Since the truth of faith acts as a servant to the good of love, as what is last does to what is first, it says of Aholiab that Jehovah appointed him to be with Bezalel, that is, to be his assistant; and of Bezalel it says that Jehovah filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all [manner of] work, verse 3.

10329. 'See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah' means those in whom the good of love is present, among whom the Church is to be established. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling by name' as choosing such persons, that is to say, ones who are suitable, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Bezalel' as those in whom the good of love is present. The reason why these are represented here by Bezalel is that he came from the tribe of Judah, and this tribe means those in whom celestial good is present, which is the good of love to the Lord, and in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, it means the good of celestial love. For this meaning of Judah and his tribe, see 3654, 3881, 6363, 6364, 8770. But what Uri and Hur, Bezalel's father and grandfather, represent is clear from the manner in which celestial good is begotten. It is begotten by teachings that present what is true and good on a celestial level. So those teachings are meant by these two men, 'Hur' representing teachings that present the truth, see 9424.

[2] People who keep their minds fixed solely on the literal sense of the Word, which they do more resolutely in the historical sections than in the prophetical parts, may be astonished when they are told that such things are meant by the names of those two men; but people who are acquainted with the essential nature of the Word will not be astonished. For in every detail the Word has a spiritual content. Within the actual names of persons and places that are mentioned in the Word there would be nothing spiritual if they did not serve to mean things of the Church and of heaven; for those things are spiritual. From this it follows that the two names used here likewise mean spiritual things.

Names in the Word serve to mean spiritual things or realities, see 1224, 1264, 1888, 4442, 5095, 5225, 6516.

Names do not pass into heaven, only the realities meant by them, 1876, 10216, 10282.

[3] The reason why 'calling by name' in the spiritual sense means choosing such persons as are suitable is that the word 'name' considered without reference to an actual person means the essential nature of something, as becomes clear from places in the Word in which 'name' occurs.

'Name' means the essential nature of something, see 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3004-3011, 3421, 6674, 6887, 8274, 8882, 9310.

The verb 'call' without the noun 'name' has a similar meaning, 3421, 3659, while 'calling by name' means choosing, 8773.

[4] Two men are named here who were called by Jehovah to carry out the work that Moses was commanded on Mount Sinai - Bezalel from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan. 'Bezalel' means those in whom the good of celestial love is present, 'Aholiab' those in whom the good and truth of faith exist. Those in whom the good of celestial love is present are in the inmost part of heaven and the Church, whereas those in whom the good and truth of faith exist are in the last and lowest part of them. Thus these two men mean all persons in their entirety among whom the Church may be established; for the first and the last, or the inmost and the outermost, mean all persons or all things. For the subject in what immediately follows is the Church that is to be established; and this is why these two, by whom are meant all among whom the Church could be established, are mentioned by name. For the meaning of the first and the last as all persons and all things, see 10044; and for that of Aholiab from the tribe of Dan as those in whom the good of faith exists, and so who are in the last and lowest part of heaven or the Church, see in what follows below.

From all this it now evident that 'I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah' means those in whom the good of love is present, among whom the Church is to be established.